WO 2007/008139 A1 discloses flooring panels respectively provided with a first and a second edge, wherein these edges are designed to establish a connection between the panels. In this case, the first edge comprises a lower lip with a step that cooperates with an open locking groove of the second edge in order to ensure a lock in a horizontal direction.
A separate clip disposed on the first edge and comprising a movable clip head and a clip base is provided for locking in the vertical direction. In a locking position, the clip head, in the connected state of the panels, cooperates with a blocking surface on the second edge, whereby the panels are locked in the vertical direction. The clip base serves for pressing the clip head into its locking position during the establishment of the connection. In this case, the clip case cooperates with an activating surface of the second edge. In this case, the connection between the first and the second edges can be established by a vertical relative movement of the panels with respect to one another. In the process, the second edge, or the panel with the second edge, is pressed in a downward direction until the step of the lower lip reaches into the downwardly open locking groove. During this downward movement of the second edge, the activating surface presses against the clip base, which in turn ensures that the clip head arrives in its locking position.
During transport or installation, the separate clips in the panels of WO 2007/008139 can fall out of the grooves provided for accommodating them. This makes the installation more difficult because attention must constantly be paid to the clips not falling out. On the other hand, the clips could be pressed with a certain oversize into the grooves provided for accommodating them during the production of the panels, which would counteract the clips falling out inadvertently. However, there is then the danger of the clips not being lodged freely movably in their grooves any longer, so that the desired vertical locking action no longer takes place when the panels are connected.
Therefore, the present subject matter is based on the object of providing a set of panels with which installation can be carried out easily and in which a vertical lock between connected panels takes place as reliably as possible.